Improved machine for rounding and polishing balls



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. L. KNOWLTON. MACHINE FOR ROUNDING AND POLISHINGBALLS.

'No. 49,122. Patented Aug 1, 1865.

2 Sheets-SheeflZLf J. L. KNOWLTON. MACHINE FOR ROUNDING AND POLISHINGBALLS.

No. 49,122. Patented Aug. 1', 1 865. I

rm: Nonms mans cc VNOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES JOHNJLOPER KNOWLTON, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYLVAnrn. 3

PATENT OFFIC IMPROVED MACHINIEFORROUNDING AND PousHmc BALL-s.

Specification formingjpartjof Letters Patent No. 49,122, dated August1,1863. H 1 i 1 To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I,JoHNLOP-its KNOWL- TON, of the city and county of Philadelphia,

and State of Pennsylvania, have invented; a

new and Improved Machine for Rounding and Polishing Balls, &c.; and I'dohereby declare that they following is a full, clear, and exact. de-

scription thereof, which will enable others;

skilled in the art tomake and use the same, reference being had to theaccom pan'yingdr'awings, forming part of this specification, in

which- Figure 1 represents a plan or top view of this invention. Fig. 2is a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in theplaneindicated by the line at a, Fig. 1.. V Fig. 3 is a similar sectionof the same, the plane of section being indicated bythe line 3 y, Fig.1.Fig. 4 is a detached frontmel eration of. a'mi lling-tool\ used inturning balls. Fig. 5 is a transverse 'vertieal section, the line z 2,Fig. 4, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 6 is a plan or top view ofthe same. n Similar letters of reference indicate lite parts.

This invention consists of a machine com- .posed of-four (more or less')different longitudinally-sliding rotary mandrels radiating from a commoncenter and provided with chucks at their inner ends, in combination withsuitable mechanism to force these chucks alternately up against the ballto he turned or ground and with a. millingtool o'r' grinding-wheel insuch a manner that two of the chucks will'clamp the ball at a time, andthe hall is thereby turned in either direction, while the grinding-.wheel or milling-tool is held in contact with.

able to disturb the correct central position of the samel A represents aframe, made of cast-iron or any other suitable material, in formof tcross, with four(more or less) guideways, B,ra

dieting from a common center.- e. form the guides for carriagesO (if,\vhicl a the bearings for mandrelspl) .D, clearly shown in Fig. 1. Eachof thesemandrels car-1 rieson its inner end a chuck, E or whiclris madein'the form of a cup, to fit thejsurf'ace of the hall to be turned,ground, or polished, and" these chucks are connected to the mandrels sothat they can be readily replaced by others I made to fitballs ofdifferent diameters.

The tool which acts on the surface of the ball. may either-be amilling-tool, F, such shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, or itma-y be'a grinding-wheel, F, such as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The wheel F is mounted in a shaft, a, which has its hearings in asecondary frame, G,"and this frame is hinged at one end to hangers b,suspended from the main frame A, as shown iii-Fig.3,so-that'the frontend of the same is free to swing upand down, and thegrinding surface ofthe wheel F can be forced "up to the surface of the ball or removedtherefrom at the pleasure of the operator.

The position of the swinging frame G is reg ulated by a toothed segment,0, which is se-.

cured to its loose end, and gears in apinion, d, mounted-on a shaft,e,which has its bearings in thel'owerpartof the main frame A. One endofsaid shaft passes through the frameand bears.

a lever, f, to irhic'h'a weight, g, is attached,by.

means of a set-screw, "h, asshown in Fig. 1-, so

thatit-can be adjusted closerto or farther from the fulcrum of the leverf, and the powerjwhich forces the working-face of the wheelup againstthe ball is decreased or increased as circumstances may make itdesirable. H The wheel F is used more particularly for grinding orpolishing, and its working-face is hollowed out to correspond to theballs to be ground; It isattached to its shaft so that it:

can be readily replaced by another the face" ot which corresponds toballs of a larger or,

smaller diameter. The shaft a receives a rapid rotary motion by means ofa belt stretched over a pulley mounted on the same, as shownin Fig. 2.If the milling-tool Ff is to be used,

the hinged frame Grand the grinding-wheel are removed and the frameGFig. 4, is ad-';

=-justed under the ball in theproper position.

This frame forms the guidew-ays for the car-1' riage (3*, in which thevertical shaft a. has its' bearings, and attached to the top ofthisshaft is the milling-tool, as clearly-shown in Figs.

4 and 5. A rotary motion isimparted to said shaft by a belt stretchedround a pulley, 13*, and a set-screw, f, serves to set up theworking-face of themilling-tool against the ball to be turned.

The secondary frame G may either be made separate from the main frame Aor it may be connected thereto, and it may be situated above or belowsaid main frame.

The position of the ball in relation to the grinding or cutting tool iscontinually changed by the action of the chucks E E. The mandrels D, onwhich the chucks E are mounted,

receive a continuous rotary motion by means of beltsj extending from thedrums L on the drivingshaft Hover pulleys I mounted on the ends of themandrels D. Whenever the chucks E are brought to grasp the hall,therefore, said ball is compelled to revolve either in the direction inwhich the grinding-wheel revolves, but much slower than the same, or inthe direction opposite to said grinding-wheel, as may be most desirable.At certain stated intervals the chucks E release the ball, and thechucks E are caused to grasp the same and turn it in a directiontransversely to the working-face of the grinding-wheel or at rightangles-gto the-motion imparted to it by the chucks order to effect thispurpose a direct rotary motion is imparted to one or both of theInandrels D by a belt, j, extending from a drum, 70, over a pulleymounted-on the end of said mandrel, as shown particularly in Figs. 1, 2,and 3.

The drum It is mounted on a shafr, H, to which motion is imparted fromthe drivingshaft H by means of a bevel-gear, m m, or by any otherequivalent means.

The motion of the chucks E E toward and from the surface of the ball isgoverned by two cams, 0 12, mounted on a vertical arbor, 1, to which aslow rotary motion is imparted from the driving-shaft by means of anendless screw, q, and worm-wheel r. The cam 0, which is situated closeover the cam 19 on the shaft I, acts on a toe, s, and through it on thecarriages G, which form the bearings for the mandrels D, and the cam 1)acts on a toe, t, and through it on the carriages O, which form thebearings for the mandrels l). Thetoe 8 slides back and forth toward andfrom the cam 0 in a bracket, 8, secured to the main frame A, and it ispivoted to the upper end of a lever, 8 which is mounted on the end of arock-shaft, s and connects by a rod, 8 with an eccentric wrist-pinprojecting from the face of a disk, 8

. which is mounted on a rock-shaft, 8 These two rock-shafts have theirhearings in the frame A under the carriages O, and each of them bear apinion,s which gears in a toothed rack, 8 secured to the carriages O, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. r The rock-shaft 8 passes clear throughtheframeA and mounted on its end opposite to thedisks in the lever 8?, towhich an adjustable weight, 8 is secured by a set screw or anyother'suitable means. By-the action of this weight the point of the toes is held in contact with the surface ofthe cam o, and thechucks E aremade to grasp the ball until the high portion of the cam comes oppositethe end of the toe and causes the same to reccde. As soon as this takesplace the pinions s" rotate in the direction of the arrows markedthereon in Fig. 2, and the chucks E are causedto release the ball. Theto'et is arranged precisely like the toe s, and it is connected toa=lever, t,which is mounted on a rock-shaft t and connects h a rod,

26 with an eccentric wrist-pin secured in a disk, t, which is mounted onthe end ofa rock-shaft, t The rock-shafts t and t extend through theframe A under the carriages (3, and pinions t mounted on them, gear intotoothed-racks t", which are secured to the carriages 0, as v 7 clearlyshown in Fig. 3. A- lever, t, which is mounted on the rock-shaft t bearsan adjustable weight, t which holds the point of the toe tin contactwith the cam 12. When the high portion of this cam is opposite thepointof the toe the chucks E are forced back from the surface of theball, but when the low portion of said cam comes opposite the point ofthe toe the weight 1 forces the chucks E up against the ball and causesthem to grasp the same.

The cams 0 and p are so situated in relation to each other that when thehigh portion of the. cam 0 is opposite the point of the toe s the lowportion of the cam pis opposite the toe t, and

vice versa, and it will be noticed, by referring to Fig. l, where thesaid cams are shown indottcd lines, that-t-h'e h'igh portion of the cam19 extends nearly two-thirds round, whereas the high portion of the camo is very short.

From this it follows that the chucks E hold the ball for the largestportion of the revolution of the; shaft I, whereas the chucks E areallowed to grasp thesame fora short time only, when it is rcleased bythe chucks E. The object of this arrangement is to impart to the ball anearly continuous rotary motion in the plane in which the grindihg-wheelrevolves by the action of the chucks E, and to change the position ofsaid. ball occasionally in a direction at right angles with the plane inwhich the grinding-wheel rotates by the action ofthe chucks E. By thecombined action of the chucks E E the position of the ball inrelation tothe grinding-surface of the wheel or to the cutting-surface ofthemilling-tool is continually changed, and a perfectly round and true ballis produced. The chucksgrasp the general surface of the ball and keepthe same in the center without reference to small projections orcavities which may occur in the rough ball. The weights g, s and it maybe replacedbysprin gs, and the mechanisnrmay-be changed in Various minordetails without changing the result; The drivin g-shat't has itshearings in standards K, rising from the frame A, and motion is impartedto it by a belt running on the '1'iulle'y.u, or in any other suitablemanner.

This machine is particularly intended for chucks at their inner ends, orany other equiva lent means, constructed and operatingsuhstantially asand for the purpose set forth.

2. The combinatiou'of-four (more-or less) chucks,E E, made to' grasp theworl; at stated intervals,-with algrinding-wheel ormi'lling tool appliedand operating suhstantiall y as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the segmental rack c,

pinion d, shaft 6, and weighted lever f g, arranged and operating, inconnection with the pivoted frame G and polishing-wheel F, in the mannerdescribed, to regulate the pressure of the said wheel against the hallto be polished. 4. The cams (7p and toes s t, in combination with the.carria' es 0 G chucks E E and g a a weighted levers s t, or theirequivalents, constructed and operating substantially as and for thepnrpose described.

' JOHN LOPER KNOWLTON. Witnesses:

' PAUL OESTERLE,

v GEO, R. RElNHART.I

